Honorific Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
Frederic Charles John Morgan | |
Honorific Suffix: | 2nd Lt, Bt, Bar |
Birth Date: | 26 October 1908 |
Death Date: | 17 November 1962 |
6th Baron Tredegar, 8th Baronet Morgan | |
Spouse: | Joanna Russell, (m. 1954) |
Mother: | Dorothy Syssyllt Bassett |
Father: | Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar |
Relatives: | Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, (cousin) |
Frederic Charles John Morgan, 6th Baron Tredegar (26 October 1908 — 17 November 1962), was a Welsh peer and landowner. On 21 August 1954, he succeeded to the titles of 6th Baron Tredegar and 8th baronet following the death of his father, Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar. His own death in 1962 saw the extinction of the Tredegar barony and the Morgan baronetcy and his previous liquidation of the entirety of his family's Welsh estates brought to an end a social and political dynasty that had dominated South East Wales for 500 years.
See main article: Baron Tredegar. The Morgans claimed descent from Welsh princes, and were among the most powerful families in South Wales, their fortunes having been established by William Morgan, who was a politician, and acquired substantial landholdings throughout Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire and Breconshire.[1] [2] His descendants continued the family's political and social ascent; Charles Morgan becoming a baronet in 1792, and another Charles becoming 1st Baron Tredegar in 1859. His second son, Godfrey Morgan fought in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War[3] [4] and was made 1st Viscount Tredegar in 1905. Never marrying, Godfrey was in turn succeeded by his nephew Courtenay Morgan, and the Tredegar viscountcy was revived in his favour in 1926. Evan Morgan succeeded his father in 1934. Having no children of his own, his heir was his uncle, Frederic Morgan, father of John.
Frederic Charles John Morgan was born on 26 October 1908 to Frederic George Morgan, 5th Baron Tredegar and Dorothy Syssyllt Bassett.[5] [6] Although named after his father, Morgan preferred to be known as John. Following family tradition, he was educated at Eton College but did not attend university. It was while studying at Eton, Morgan befriended Alan Pryce-Jones. Pryce-Jones' father, nicknamed Morgan "Pinhead", with even Alan conceiving that Morgan was "rather a silly boy".[7]
Morgan's parents divorced in 1921. His mother remarried in the same year, but died in 1929.[8] [9] Morgan served in Scotland and the Middle East throughout World War II, gaining the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the 24th London Regiment and officer of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.[10] [11] As of 1949, Morgan was president of the Bedwellty Agricultural Society, and in 1950, he was elected as an honorary member of the Newport Chamber of Trade.[12] [13]
Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar died without children in 1949. His life was unconventional; despite his homosexuality, he married twice; enjoyed a long friendship with the occultist Aleister Crowley;[14] and spent extravagantly.[11] While his relationship with his uncle Frederic was poor, he and his cousin, John, loathed each other.[11] Evan also failed to undertake any estate planning prior to his death, meaning his uncle inherited the Welsh estates, the barony, the baronetcy and an inheritance tax bill of £1,000,000.[11]
Frederic, who described himself as an "arthritis cripple" decided to immediately transfer the entire Welsh estate to his son, John, to avoid the payment of a second set of death-duties on his own demise.[11] As a result, John Morgan inherited a £1,150,000fortune.[11] At the time, John told the Western Mail that he was prepared to live at Tredegar Park on "a very modest scale in view of the prevailing conditions". As a recent Catholic convert, Morgan went to Lourdes for guidance as to what to do with his inheritance.[15]
Following Evan’s death, John inherited any contents of the Morgan residences that were considered heirlooms. Any items that were not deemed as such were liable for repossession to pay those to whom Evan was in debt. John Morgan bought the majority of the “non-heirlooms” from his cousin’s executors, including the contents of Honeywood House, for which he paid £8,837, having been valued by Sotheby’s.[16]
The contents of Honeywood House were moved to Tredegar House, where they would later be sold.
See main article: Tredegar House. Despite indicating his intention to remain at Tredegar, Morgan spent little time there, with the exception of entertaining Lord Lloyd and Lord Raglan in 1949 and 1950, respectively.[17] In his father's final years, he had already begun selling off parts of the once 88,000 acre estate, significantly reducing it in an attempt to recover the family's lost fortune.[11] In 1950, he announced "with great regret" that death duties, taxation and costs had made it necessary for him to close Tredegar House, and in December 1950, he agreed to sell the house and its remaining 200 acre parkland to the Sisters of St. Joseph for £40,000,[11] asserting that the sale was "good for his bank balance, and his soul". In January 1951, Morgan allowed Dr Iorwerth Peate, keeper-in-charge for St Fagan's Castle, to choose 30 pieces of furniture from Tredegar House for exhibition in the period rooms of the castle.[18] Later, Morgan directed Stephenson & Alexander, a firm of auctioneers, to dispose of the remaining contents of the house in sales on 11-12 July 1951.[19] On the sale of the house, Morgan asked the nuns to hang portraits of his family and ancestors in one room to ensure that a Morgan presence remained in the house after his departure.[11]
The house was used as a Catholic girls' school until 1974. Today it is owned by Newport City Council, and managed by the National Trust, via a 50-year-lease agreement.[20]
When Morgan announced in 1950, that he would sell Tredegar House, he told the press that he "intended to live at Honeywood House, Dorking... and had no intention of breaking his connection with South Wales".[21] However, Morgan allegedly severed all family links to South Wales in 1953, after he failed to receive an invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II during a royal trip to Newport.[22] As a result, Morgan directed two firms to dispose of Honeywood House and its surrounding 172 acres at auction in 1954. The estates' lodges, cottages, and farm were sold separately.[23] Honeywood House itself became a convalescent home, run by Mr Sidney Miller, who believed that music could help a patient's recovery, and had one room converted into a "music room".[24]
In 1956 Morgan sold the family's weekend hunting lodge, Ruperra Castle, and remaining Morgan estates to Eagle Star Insurance Company for around £25,000 and £3,000,000 respectively.[25] By this stage, the castle had been damaged by its second fire during the military's control of the property throughout World War II. Today, it continues to deteriorate.
Morgan remained a bachelor until the age of 46. On 21 December 1954, he married Joanna Russell, in London.[26] The new Lady Tredegar had been married twice previously and Morgan became step-father to two daughters, one from Joanna's marriage to Archibald Russell, and one from Russell’s previous marriage.
In 1955, Lord and Lady Tredegar featured in The Tatler, alongside Lady Tredegar's daughter, Bridget at St. Moritz.[27] The following year Lady Tredegar visited Tredegar House for the first time, accompanied by her husband. They thanked staff working at the house and met retired, former employees.[28]
In 1957, Morgan deposited his family's manuscripts and papers to the National Library of Wales, so that they would be preserved in the event of him dying without an heir, despite allegedly promising them to the Newport Borough Library. [29] Councillor A. F. Dolman described changing the destination of the documents as a "breech of faith".[30]
Morgan lived at 16 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh, but heavy taxation, aided his decision to spend married life in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, as a tax exile.[31] Here he pursued his passion for art, having studied under Leonard Fuller at St Ives School, and produced several works which are now owned by the National Trust and displayed in Tredegar House.[32] He also enjoyed yachting and golf.
In 1957, Morgan embarked on a 2000-mile journey on his motor-yacht, the Henry Morgan, named after his distant ancestor, Sir Henry Morgan. When the Henry Morgan became at risk of sinking during the voyage, Lord Tredegar allegedly went below-deck asserting, "there is nothing I can do about it; wake me when the fuss is over".[33]
In 1962, he became ill, and returned to Middlesex Hospital in London as he did not trust the local doctors. Although the operation was successful,[34] he succumbed to septacemia, and died suddenly and without issue, aged 54. On his death, his wife donated more family portraits and some of John's artwork to the nuns of St. Joseph, in his memory. The works include a portrait of her husband, by Leonard Fuller and dating from 1950, which is on display at Tredegar House.[35] As neither Morgan nor his sister, the Hon. Syssyllt Avis Gurney (neé. Morgan), had children, his death marked the extinction of the Morgan baronetcy and the Barony of Tredegar, bringing an end to a dynasty that had existed in South Wales for some 500 years.[11]